Uneducated people at church led to my crisis of faith

What does “newly born” imply to you? That they/we are mature, finished products as soon as we are born? If it doesn’t work that way in the physical realm, why would you think it works that way in the spiritual? We may be new creatures in Christ, but we still have a lot of learning to do. In fact, everything that Jonathan says below about the physical life could be applied to the spiritual life, as well:

Edit: Had to change a “you” to a “we” so as not to imply that I was going after you, personally.

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Of course, only a very small percentage of physicians are (and were in the past) scientists who would be considered experts on the topic. But even with those who were, we can’t blame an “expert” for that which has not yet been discovered. Meanwhile, if those professionals don’t have all of the relevant knowledge on a topic, neither do non-professionals/non-scientists. So it basically always comes down to “What does the evidence tell us at this point?” And sometimes the answer is “We just don’t know. The evidence is not yet clear.”

Also, meanwhile, the Kruger-Dunning Effect is very apt to bite us in the behind if we aren’t careful.

That is an interesting thing to keep an eye on, but I’m not sure it applies in this case. Neither of my parents would have claimed that they know more than medical doctors or have some scientific case or information that real experts do not have. It would have more been a matter of “where or in whom do we place our trust regarding this one issue and our own resulting binary decision?” Some may appeal to a vague authority invested in their heritage and traditions. So for example, a native American who decides to adhere to her native traditions on a specific matter rather than what a medical doctor advises might not so much be favoring her own intelligence over the doctor;s as she is simply adhering to older wisdoms or authorities rather than the modern ones. But even in making that decision (about who to trust) I’m not sure the Kruger-Dunning effect is ruled out. I certainly do agree that we are haunted by this quite a lot.

added edit:
I think I’m personally most prone to the K-D effect above when I appeal to my own intuitions (which I do and have done) and compare those favorably using 20-20 hindsight against perceived shortcomings of a body of experts. But if my own intutions have been fed and formed by, let’s say, traditional and even spiritual guidance, then things may get a bit trickier. And such appeals would be directly parallel to issues brought up by YECers or flat-earthers or anybody else with a fixation on marginalized ideas.

Your story provides a good cautionary tale about our Bible interpretations. It is easy to get caught up in tradition or in listening to the wrong self-described “expert”. Humility is called for, especially when the evidence is very complicated. With the Bible we are always dealing with ancient languages and ancient cultural issues which will always be largely foreign to us. We can learn a lot from careful study but we must temper our dogmatism with much humility.

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Round Earth…I have never heard of or met people who believe in the Flat Earth idea. I understand that belief in a round or spherical Earth goes back to Plato, and maybe to others. Sailors were said to have been able to determine the spherical nature of the earth by seeing the curve in the horizon on the ocean.

I am not sure that calling people “stupid” is a valued method of discourse, no matter what country you live in. Arrogance or pride are things which God hates. Find it in the Bible!! Supposing that someone who disagrees with you is thus “stupid” and not worthy of God’s time is somewhat deficient. The Nazis had death camps with sections for “useless eaters,” the majority of which had IQs lacking in the level of sophistication you seem to seek. And you and I might also be so classified by the Nazis or some similar group for one reason or another.

The fact is that you and I may have higher IQs than some but not higher than all. We certainly do not know more than God, who created all of us to have friendship with Him and gave us different gifts …even to the “low IQ” folks who distress you.

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